Hot Air Balloon
by LimeGoesWeeeee
Summary: A small portrait of what life in the landfills might've felt like for Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. An exploration of their friendship, and how they help each other through the long arduous days. One-Shot. [Disclaimer: I don't own SnK]


It had been two weeks since the titans rendered Wall Maria useless. Two weeks since Carla Jaeger died. Two weeks since Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert lost their homes and families. It had been two weeks since their world turned to shit; and it felt like an eternity.

Eren was restless, he wanted nothing more than to join the military and kill every single titan that crossed his path. And after that was done, he'd look for any other fuckers who may be in hiding. Because once he got started, they _would_be hiding. His anger, which two weeks prior had been burning and rendering his judgement useless, was simmering down quicker than he expected. And now, he was just mad that he wasn't angry. He couldn't relax because he didn't want to accept what happened; and if he wasn't angry, then what did that mean? Did that mean he was okay with what happened? How could he be?

Working at the landfill was terribly menial, exctrutiatingly boring, tedious, tiresome, trite… you get the picture. The only thing that kept each of them from bolting, was the fact that they were together; well that, and the fact that they needed food if they planned to live. Except Eren also had a tendency to become disturbingly quiet. It was a red flag for Mikasa that he was thinking about that day again. Thinking about it with laser sharp focus; the brooding look in his eyes was what gave him away every single time. He could never manage to hide it from her and Armin.

Armin was the best at getting him out of his moods though. He always knew what to say to Eren; and no matter how angry he was, or how angst ridden, Armin always got him out of it. Not once did he say the wrong thing; not once did he set Eren off. At least not out in the landfills.

It was usually something about the outer world. A world without titans. Armin could describe perfectly the things he saw and read on those books about the outer world, and Eren never could just brush it off. He just allowed it to take over his thoughts instead.

But today was a bad day. On their way to the land fill a couple of members of the Military Police decided to pick on Eren for announcing his desire to join the Scouting Legion. There seemed to be nothing Mikasa and Armin could do to get Eren out of his desperate, fiery mood.

Usually when Eren was like this he would be quiet, and maybe rant a little for a while; but after the ranting was done, he became quiet. Extremely so. Today was no different.

"Eren?" Mikasa tried her luck.

"Eren?" Armin followed Mikasas lead, both to no success.

They continued their work.

But Armin couldn't let it go. It made him uneasy to see Eren like this. Like he couldn't relax if the other two weren't also relaxed. So he gave it a try. He told him about a book he was hoping to keep to himself, one he shared with his grandfather and was very dear to him.

"You know Eren, there was a book I saw as a kid that I never showed you. I could never figure out where my grandpa hid it." Eren looked up at Armin, and there was no lie in his eyes.

He wanted to keep quiet. He was not stupid, he knew what Armin was doing. But eventually curiosity won out. "What about?" Eren finally conceded and Mikasa returned to her work knowing Armin could take it from there.

"Flying." Armin stated, unsure of whether Eren understood; and he didn't.

"Flying? Like with the 3DMG?"

"No, machines and such. They take people up on the air. Think of it like a boat that floats around in the air." Armin talked about it with careful fascination.

"Boats that fly? That's impossible. How would they stay up if they're so heavy?"

"Not really, it all made sense the way they talked about it." Armin shrugged his response, hoping Eren would take his word on it. He felt almost silly talking about it.

"Could we do it?" Asked Eren. His response somewhat surprised Armin and Mikasa; and though they tried to hide it, Eren saw right through it.

But Armin couldn't really help but feel pessimistic. Perhaps it was the effects of working on the landfills, but he just couldn't imagine a normal life anymore. One where good, unusual things happen. In fact, he hadn't pondered wondrous things since that day when the titans forced them out of their homes and away from their families. So he just let Eren know what he was thinking. "If we did, where would we go?"

Eren had nothing to say to that. If they left the walls they'd only meet the titans on the other side. But he knew Armin, and he knew what Mikasa and him had been doing. It was but a little light in all the chaos they'd faced. He felt both shitty and incredibly happy at the same time. So he had to give this one to Armin. Let him think of one more wondrous thing.

"Maybe we could stay up there. Just, float in the air. They'll never get us up there."

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_Thank You for Reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated. ^^_


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